In a major breach of privacy, a hacker leaked a series of pictures allegedly showing Jennifer Lawrence and other female celebrities in the nude.
Purported nude photographs of Lawrence, who won an Academy Award last year for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook,” were splashed on various sites Sunday. They appeared on 4chan, Reddit, Twitter and Tumblr, among others.
A “master list” of victims was posted online by the hacker, with names including reality television star Kim Kardashian, singer Rihanna, actress Kirsten Dunst as well as models Candice Swanepoel and Kelly Brook, and television host Cat Deeley.
As many as 101 celebrities may have been hacked in what appeared to be a concerted effort to show the vulnerability of private mobile phone messages and photos stored on Apple’s iCloud.
The photos were first published on 4chan, the image-sharing forum, apparently in an attempt to earn bitcoins, an online currency.
Around 60 nude selfies of Lawrence were reportedly hacked, with the individual claiming to also possess explicit videos of the young star.
The hacker wrote on Sunday he or she is accepting Paypal donations for the video which allegedly shows Lawrence performing a sex act, adding “I know no one will believe me, but i have a short lawrence video.
“Is way too short, a little over 2 minutes and you only get to see her boobs
“Anyways, if somebody wants it let me know how i can upload it anonymously (i dont want the FBI over me, and you dont wanna know how I got this video.)”
A spokeswoman for the 24-year-old actress said in a statement: “This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.”
Agencies/Canadajournal